Limpopo Health MEC stands by her ‘open your books, close your legs’ comments

Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba has defended her “open your books and close your legs” message to teenage girl pupils.

Ramathuba came under fire earlier this week after a video of her telling pupils to focus on their studies rather than engage in sexual activities circulated on social media.

In the video, Ramathuba is heard telling pupils to “open your books and close your legs”.

“To the girl child, open your books and close your legs. Don’t open your legs, open your books. What did I say?” she asked.

The MEC had visited Gwenane Secondary School in Sekgakgapeng on Wednesday on the first day of the 2022 academic year.

‘Not surprised and shocked’

But Ramathuba has since argued that this incident was taken out of context, although she said she stands by her comments.

“[I] will advice everyone [to] take a look at the entire video so they can realise that the message was not just on the girl child. I did address the boy child [as well]… I have told them to sleep with their books not girls, however, the emphasis is on the girl child. I’m not surprised and shocked [that] there is this particular reaction,” she said.

“I stand by those words. When we talk to young people, we use slogans. Slogans are catchy and [they are easy] to market.

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“You are able to bring attention [with slogans] and drive the message that you want to [communicate]. Open your books and close is a language [the pupils] will understand [so] I don’t see anything wrong with that,” the MEC continued to say.

She dismissed suggestions that she was victimising girls.

“I want to differ with that because as I have indicated I still want you to show me a boy child who has lost their education and their future because they impregnated a girl. On the other side, I will show you so many girls because they don’t have anyone to look after their kids,” Ramathuba added.

The Soul City Institute for Social Justice (SCI) has slammed Ramathuba for her comments, saying it needed to be considered that “we live in a country that has a rape culture”.

“We live in a country where young women are most vulnerable to violence, they are most vulnerable to social ills [and] they most vulnerable to gender norms that violate their rights to freedom of expression in how they dress and in how they live their lives,” SCI’s CEO Phinah Kodisang told Newzroom Afrika.

Tackling teenage pregnancy

Last year, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) introduced a new policy which will prohibit schools from excluding or expelling pregnant pupils, while making it compulsory to report cases of statutory rape to police.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga gazetted the department’s policy on the prevention and management of pregnancy in schools.

The policy states that the rate of pregnancies in schools have become a “major challenge” for national development and the basic education system, prompting the new regulations.

The Citizen previously reported that more than 23,000 teenage pregnancies were confirmed in Gauteng from April 2020 to March 2021.

READ MORE: Preaching abstinence won’t reduce shocking rate of child pregnancies